CALHOUN CITY — David Gardner has made a lot of big shots in his career and he added another one to his resume Saturday night against with a buzzer-beater to give Okolona a 61-59 win over host Calhoun City in the final game of the Curtis Loggins Classic.
“He wants the ball in his hands, so we were going to give him the opportunity. I am just glad he got it down because I don’t think we could have survived overtime,” said Okolona head coach Bobby Ford.
“I give it up to Okolona; they were real resilient down the stretch. They always tend to find a way to get the edge on us, so hats off to Okolona. DJ got a good shot and the best team won. ” said Calhoun City head coach Darren Coffey.
Marques Conway opened the door for Gardner’s late-game heroics when he grabbed an offensive rebound and powered back a lay-up to make it game at 59-57 in favor of Calhoun City with 1:04 left in the game. On the Wildcats ensuing possession Conway forced a jump ball and nailed a mid-range jumper with 32.1 second left, but he was not finished. He hustled on help defense to block a base line jumper and set a solid screen to free up Gardner for the game-winning shot.
“I had to get on him (Conway) a little bit about his play because I think he got caught up in too much of the individual stuff. I sat him down and may have got his attention a little bit because when he came back he played a little more team ball,” said Ford.
Gardner finished with 23 points, Martavis Hill 19, Conway 16, and Ordarrion McCoy added 3 points for the Chieftains.
“I didn’t think it was a pretty game. We seemed to be sluggish all night, but Calhoun City had a lot to do with that. We were very fortunate to come away with the win,” said Ford.
Taborris Coffey scored a game-high 26, Dartavian Primer 14, Demarius Howard 8, JR Jennings and Ricky Whaley added 4 points each.
“We played sloppy the whole game,” said Coffey. “For the past three games we have played real nonchalant basketball, it’s sort of been like a cruse since we beat Ridgeland.
Since the Wildcats picked up the 57-53 overtime win over Ridgeland they have dropped three-straight games to Grenada 59-55 and Aberdeen 60-54 mixed with Saturday’s two-point to loss Okolona.
“I think the last three games we have not been aggressive and our energy level hasn’t been there,” said Coffey. “At the end of the day I will take responsibility for any loss, but somewhere accountability has got to be held. Somebody has got to step up and be a leader. When we get back to practice we might only have seven players, but it will be seven of the hardest playing players you will ever see in your life.”
Calhoun City will return to floor on Tuesday, December 29 at 12:30 p.m. against Independence at Oxford High School in the O-Town Showdown and again Wednesday, December 30 at 11:00 a.m. against Lafayette County.
“We’ve got to step it up and play,” said Coffey. “I hope we find some leadership in between here and there.”
The Lady Wildcats will also participate in the O-Town Showdown taking on Olive Branch at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday and Clarksdale at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
